Education Minister John O’Dowd has confirmed that grading of all GCSEs here, regardless of Awarding Organisation, will continue under the alphabetical system A*-G.
The Minister recently consulted on changes to GCSE grading following a decision in England to move to numerical grading from 2017. Grading in Wales will continue to be alphabetical.
Speaking in the Assembly, Minster O’Dowd said:
“As Minister for Education I have always made decisions in the best interests of our children and young people.
“As a result of changes to examinations and qualifications policy in England over the past three or four years, I have been presented with a range of significant issues to be addressed as they affect here.
“My response has been to seek professional advice, to discuss within the education sector, and with the wide range of stakeholders who have an interest in education.
“I have taken my time, because I believed this policy development needed careful consideration.
“I have taken decisions that reflect the strategic priorities here, rather than those of any other administration. My decision today has been taken to reflect our collective desire to improve educational outcomes and to tackle underachievement as well as for the future of the economy and society.
“I have considered the consequences, the evidence, and our own educational objectives.
“I have consulted on the grading of GCSEs: whether grades should be awarded alphabetically – A*-G as at present – or numerically – 9-1 as is happening in England. Arising from that consultation, I came away with two very clear messages.
“Firstly, that there are no educational arguments to change the grading to a numerical system. Whether the award is in letters or numbers does not help improve outcomes or address underachievement. This is not, therefore, an issue about outcomes.
“Secondly, there is general interest about whether it will be possible to compare one set of grades with another.
“At a purely practical level, we know that for a while English Awarding Organisations will be making their awards using letters as well as numbers, as their reformed GCSEs are introduced in tranches. And the Welsh have decided to retain the alphabetic grading system. So there will have to be a comparative scale. All awarding organisations – including CCEA – will be responsible for making sure that parents, schools, employers and others know how the two scales compare.
“We also know that the grade 4 will be anchored to the grade C, and the grade 7 anchored to the grade A.
“I especially recognise the concern that has been expressed to me that it will be unnecessarily confusing for everyone to maintain a mixture of letters and numbers for GCSEs. An exam certificate should be an immediately recognisable record of the young person’s achievement, not an alpha-numerical challenge to the reader.
"After consideration of the options available to me, I have reached the decision that grading of all GCSEs here will continue under the present alphabetical system using A* to G grades."
Concluding the Minister said:
“I have heard no compelling arguments for change, and I have heard strong arguments for consistency. I believe that it will be in the best interests of learners here to continue with the established practice of awarding using letters, and I believe we must avoid unnecessary complexity as far as possible.
“I have been assured by the experience in Scotland where they operate a different exam system. In other jurisdictions different exam systems are in operation and those students are able to apply to universities and seek employment across the world. Their systems are working world-wide which reflects the confidence that they have in their own education systems.
“I have confidence in our education system, and I have confidence in the hard work and attainment of our young people. I want that attainment to be rewarded, and for that attainment to be recognised across these islands and beyond.”
Notes to editors:
- The Minister’s statement can be found on the DE website.
- The Department of Education undertook a twelve-week consultation on General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) grading over the period 23 March 2015 to 19 June 2015.
- The Department received a total of 303 (on-line and hard copy) responses.
- Sixty two percent of respondents either strongly agreed or agreed that GCSEs developed by CCEA should continue to use alphabetic grades A* to G’.
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